Guthrie Insurance Blog

Letter: We all want cheaper auto insurance.

The Ontario NDP has accused the insurance industry of not passing savings on to consumers.

We agree insurance is too expensive but in order to pass along savings— we need sustained reductions in unnecessary costs.

The NDP does not seem to grasp this concept— nor do they appear to want to understand it. They indulge in politics while others are trying in good faith to fix the problem with the auto insurance product itself.

Auto insurers in Ontario lost an average of a billion dollars a year between 2008 and 2010. Long-term, double-digit profits are a distant pipe dream. Two recent independent reports also indicate that returns to the industry in the last two years have been modest.

So, why does auto insurance cost too much in Ontario? Just look at the cost of the system:

• The average cost of an accident claim in Ontario is six times higher than in Alberta;• Ontario's Anti-Fraud Task Force says fraud costs the system as much as $1.6 billion a year;• too many personal injury lawyers and for-profit medical businesses exploit the system to boost their earnings;• and the system is plagued with legal delays, unclear guidelines, medical costs, red tape and outdated rules.

The demand for a 15 per cent premium cut doesn't solve any of those complex problems. A slogan is not a plan and it's no substitute for real solutions.

Everyone involved— insurers, politicians, consumers, lawyers and medical business owners— need to support long-term, genuine reforms that stop the fraud, abuse and waste.

With these measures we can then see meaningful and real cost reductions.

Ralph Palumbo,Ontario Vice President,Insurance Bureau of Canada

Source: The Brampton Guardian

PS: From Ryan Guthrie - Ralph, thank you for bringing the voice of reason and logic to a storm of political rhetoric and misinformation.